Which brings us to Wednesday afternoon in Rochelle – Treml’s best performance so far this postseason. In the Spartan’s 1-0 win over Kaneland in the Class 3A Rochelle Sectional final, Treml no-hit the Knights and didn’t walk a batter

The no-hitter was controversial – Joe Panico’s second-inning dribbler to the left side of the Sycamore infield went past a diving Mark Skelley at third base, and shortstop Michael Swanberg proceeded to bobble the ball, and Panico reached base safely.

It was going to be a tough play, I didn’t feel Swanberg was going to get Panico anyway, which is why I had it as a hit in my scorebook. But the official scorer at Rochelle called it an error. Either way, it was another great performance from Treml.

Treml struck out 10 Knights and often made the Kaneland batters look foolish with his two different breaking balls.

“My curveball was thrown for a strike and I was painting the corners,” Treml said. “To be successful, you have to throw your curveball for a strike, and then I have my wipeout curveball that starts in the middle and breaks to the other half of the plate where it’s like unhittable.”

What makes Wednesday’s outing even more ridiculous is the fact he threw a no-hitter on three days of rest, although according to Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh that was to Treml’s advantage.

Cavanaugh said Treml is actually better pitching with less rest, as his breaking balls get better with the more innings he pitches.

Right now, that’s probably good news for Sycamore. In Saturday’s sectional final against the winner of today’s other semifinal between Rochelle and Rockford Boylan, expect the Spartans to start senior righty Cole Nelson – their No. 1 all season.

However, if Nelson should get in some trouble or if his pitch count just happens to get too high, expect Treml to be the next man in.